Riptide Open Season Versus Arkansas Twisters
March 31, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
San Diego Riptide News Release
2003 RECORDS:
San Diego Riptide (6-10, 4th National West)
Arkansas Twisters (9-7, 2nd National Central, 2-1, Playoffs)
SERIES HISTORY:
4 games – Twisters 3, Riptide 1
April 27, 2002, Little Rock, AR: Arkansas 75, San Diego 51
July 20, 2002, San Diego, CA: Arkansas 45, San Diego 42
April 12, 2003, Little Rock, AR: San Diego 40, Arkansas 34
April 19, 2003, San Diego, CA: Arkansas 51, San Diego 43
2004 SEASON: This will be the only meeting between these two teams during the 2004 season.
GAME NOTES: The Riptide will look to rebound after a disappointing 2003 season in which they dropped seven of their final nine games, finishing last in the National West Division. The offense looks to be much improved with new Head Coach Mouse Davis calling the plays. Davis is renowned for developing the “Run ‘N Shoot” offense as well as being a pioneer of the “West Coast” offense now employed by many NFL teams.
QB Kane Claunch returns to the team for his third season at the helm of the Riptide offense. He finished last season having completed 57.8 percent of his passes and tossing 48 touchdowns to only 12 interceptions. Also returning to the Riptide offense are playmakers Marty Graham, Jesus Reyes and Rico Curtis.
The defense will have to see strong production from Quincy LeJay, who spent much of the 2003 season battling injuries, as well as newcomers Patrick Girardi and Raul Gomez, if it hopes to make up for the loss of 2003 af2 tackles leader Kenny Haslip.
Arkansas, the runner-up for the National Conference championship in 2003 will enter the season without its top offensive threat, QB Ricky Hebert (retired) and defensive standout DS Khalil Carter (now with the AFLÂ’s Orlando Predators).
SHARK BITES: The Riptide have plenty of local flavor in 2004. Their roster features seven players that graduated from S. California Schools: K. Burton, R. Curtis, R. Gomez, M. Graham, J. Reyes (all from SDSU), M. Guardia (USD) and Darnell Lacy (USC)… 11 of the 21 players on the Riptide roster will be making their af2 debut on Saturday… OL/DL Ryan Cuthbert will see time at split back in 2004, after playing mainly on the line last season… New ‘Tide kicker Scott Collins will look to replace the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, Ryan Geisler (189 pts), who finished 2nd in af2 in FGs in 2003… WR/DB Nakou McElrath and OL/DL Mike Wessell will open the season on the injured list…
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